Chinese taxi hailing app Didi Kuaidi (Xiaoju Kuaizhi Inc.,) the combined company from previous competitors KuaiDi Dache and Didi Dache, is said to be seeking to raise atleast $1.5 billion. He addressed investors recently in letter, saying China is a key market for Uber’s global expansion - particularly because Uber estimates it already has secured almost half of the ride-hailing market of the region.

Between the two companies, they’re definitely are not short of cash, but likewise another $1.5 billion in the kitty to take on Uber certainly won’t go astray.

The rising middle class in China, put conservatively at around the 400 million people mark, provides a massive growth potential for companies willing to cater for those with money to spend, and looking for modern conveniences such as ridesharing or even an easier way to hail a tradition taxi.

Uber takers in China were making nearly one million trips per day with business doubling in the last month, according to a leaked company e-mail reported last week by the Financial Times.

The world’s most populous country is not only the biggest single auto market on the planet, but also has an estimated one trillion dollars a year market for transportation services, with Didi Kuaidi continuing to run separate applications and only merging their technology and data to better compete against rivals such as Uber or Yidao Yongche.

Compared to the four years that Uber has been active in New York, the three Chinese cities have made their achievement in just nine months.

At the same time, another report is pointing out some of the steps that cities are taking that could eventually lead to bans on the kinds of private cars that Uber uses to ferry customers around.

But Uber’s peer-to-peer service pulls in pool of drivers unaffiliated with taxis, so it had enough supply of drivers to manage the demand.

There are quite a few forces at work here, which is why this case is particularly complex. The strategic tie-up gives San Francisco-based Uber a local partner for its Chinese operations.

Lastly, Beijing is probably also eager to show a case where a foreign Internet-based company can succeed in China.

According to the Financial Times newspaper, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a cited e-mail to investors that China was the number one priority for the company worldwide.